I don't know too much except what I do to help cough up these darn hairballs!
I use the Om sound, inhale through the nose then as you are exhaling make the Om sound using your deepest voice possible, keep doing it and it will rattle your cage (lol) enough to cough up mucous, It vibrates the lungs, you can feel it when you are doing it.
The deeper the voice the deeper it seems to vibrate.

I discovered this just by chance one day while just doing my Om's

Those are interesting. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, material, and color. Doubt youll ever get a definitive answer. I heard various people talking about them. These people also reported various explanations they had been given. Nobodys stories ever matched.

I had never experienced one. Then, like everything else associated with COPD, it finally happened to me one day, completely out-of-the-blue. No major exacerbation or anything I just suddenly got this thing in my throat. What I finally coughed up was a huge (to me) ball of thick dark yellow-green phylum filled with bright red blood clots! Spooked the daylights out of me as I was obviously dying! The Big C.

But that was it. I went on feeling quite normal, normal phylum, normal day, etc. When I mentioned it to my doctor he had me take another CT scan but nothing showed up. To date it has never repeated.

This post isnt that helpful, except perhaps to let you know that suddenly hacking up Very Strange Plugs is apparently normal for COPD. Now of course if you start seeing these things on a daily basis thats another story, and best you contact your doctor.

I had no idea I had plugs until one day when, out of the blue, I coughed one up. Note: I do not have a mucus production problem and I rarely cough. The plug freaked me out because I'd never seen anything like it. It had the texture of rubber.

I went to my pulmonologist who told me it was a plug and the x-ray showed several small ones. One danger of plugs is they can cause lung collapse.

My doctor prescribed mucinex, and later NAC along with The Flutter Device. I never coughed up another plug and I do not know whether or not I still have them. I have no symptoms. But then, I had no symptoms prior to coughing up one.

I have plenty of regular mucus but never had one of those plugs you are talking about. I've read that they often occur after surgery if the patient can't cough well enough. The sometimes get pretty hard and rubbery and take on the form of the airway.
I found a photo of one
https://www.google.com/search?q=lung+mucus+plug+picture&c
I would really freak out if I'd cough up something like that. I watched to many sci-fi movies where people give birth to an alien hahaha!
But then-I guess it would make one feel a lot better getting rid of something like that.

Heike55,

Yes, it absolutely freaked me out when I coughed up a mucus plug. I panicked and immediately made an appt with my pulmonologist.

My pulmo has a sense of humor. He told me to save the next one and bring it in so he could show his staff and freak them out. lol

boldprint-just curious. Were you able to breathe a lot better after that came up? I imagine so !

This is a paragraph that I ran across in LIVESTRONG and some may have missed it. Sometimes mucus is a good thing and sometimes it isn't. It becomes a problem when your diaphragm, breathing muscles and accessory muscles are all overworked and so we have to come up with another way to deal with this problem. There are quiet a few ways as has already been mentioned.

~~~~Mucus is a slippery and watery substance that is normally found throughout the body. Its function is to protect membranes and help the body fight infection. However, if the body produces too much mucus and it begins to accumulate in the lungs, symptoms can occur. This includes coughing, trouble breathing, fatigue and chest pain or discomfort. In some cases, mucus is an early warning sign of a serious underlying disease. The first step is to determine the cause of excess mucus in the lungs, so the right treatment approach can be started~~~


I am pretty much for natural remedies until traditional medications are required. For mucus, they advise that you drink plenty of water to keep it loose so it is easier to expel. Some ways have already been mentioned and are excellent. I have the Acpella duet Vibratory Therapy System that vibrates as you use it to loosen mucus. It was given to me in pulmonary Rehab a couple of years ago but I seldom had to use it because I do the following.

1. Blow the nose as often as necessary to keep the mucus from sliding down the throat.

2. Use 4 oz of warm water and 1 tablespoon salt to gargle. This will help dry the mucus in the throat. Use 3 times daily

3. Hot showers will help release mucus so you can spit it up.. This lasts only about an hour but does give some relief.

4. 4 ozs of water and 1 tablespoon of lime juice, stir in 1 tablespoon of honey and drink. The honey smooth's the throat and the lime juice eats away at the excess mucus.


Zig, you mentioned that you may have mesothelioma. But you know that you have excess mucus so if I were you I would start now trying to help control one problem before anymore possible pile on. Yea, I am kinda pragmatic about most things but it helps to get me through some of the rough spots.

Sorry so long but hope it helps.

Hey Zig, I replied to this earlier, but I guess it's lost in cyberspace somewhere!

Inn my case, my mucous plug was caused by my inability to cough the junk up properly, due to my advanced Parkinson Disease. Two chronic illnesses that are now doing battle with each other, besides with me. Because I can't cough properly, my pulmo has prescribed for me something called a percussion vest. Supposedly the percussions will help me bring the junk up and out!

Breathe easy friend, Jim

A percussion vest, that's cool Jim, Actually I thought about you when one of the comments said some people are too sick or weak to cough them up, which I can understand. I wonder, too, about Dennis now with all that stuff he has going on--I'm sure he doesn't have the strength to cough it up.

I've never had one, thank goodness. I do have a lot of mucus. Every morning, I have these little clumps, probably about the size of the tip of your little finger (but doesn't look anything like those pix) that I have to cough so hard til I can't breathe to get them out. Then it just comes flying out--have to make sure I have my mouth covered!! Is that something similar??

Thanks LilEllie for the things to do to avoid this. I will definitely start using those. And, leenabean, may try the Om thing--but I think I need some practice--didn't rattle my cage when I just tried it!! :)

BTW: I forgot to mention as a possible cause for my mucous plug: This afternoon I had a scheduled appointment with my home health care nurse. As she was going over my nebulizer meds she asked me how long I was taking the Brovana. I told her two years, 2 times per day. I use it in conjunction with my Albuterol. That way I don't usually have a bad reaction to the Albuterol. She then told me that Brovana has been linked to the formation of mucous plugs in tracheas of some people like me: extraordinarily weakened chest and diaphragm muscles. She immediately placed a phone call to his office to find out why he had prescribed it for me, knowing that I have an extensive PD history!

yup, i don't cough up mucous like others think of it, but a few times a day i get the joy of gagging & choking & finally coughing up a mucous plug. (thought those were only for babies huh?)
i started working them up when i started spriiva (2 yrs into this dx)
mine are anywhere from the size of a pencil top eraser to a dime/quarter.
the color of dried corn stalk.
it always feels like i have something blocking my lower throat which always causes me to be clearing my throat. then it will let loose & it coughs up. laying down at night is the worst.
i thought ya all got those as my dr told me it was normal with emphysema!!! go figure!
but maybe cuz i have the "bullous emphy" and he says those big holes just collect the dried up crud & that crud just sitting & rotting in my lungs is why i get infections every few months.
the only thing that really helps me get them up is keeping well hydrated & active.
there was a fun discussion (hey granny, remember when i "described" my mucuous vs phlegm vs plugs---it was rather graphic & here we go again LOL)

i didn't realize & no one has ever told me that they could cause my lung to collapse---all my dr's just act like it's normal.

i always wondered if i could be "pounded" like they did in the old days for cystic fibrosis kids (i babysat 2) if it woldn't help loosen it up.
another new but old thing to ask my dr about once again i guess.
weird when dr's led me to beleive that "everyone" gets them & nothing to worry about (or i interpreted it wrong)

Really interesting stuff here. I'm glad people didn't let the "gross" factor hold them back.

Lil Ellie - Yes, I'm concerned about mesothelioma, it's a much bigger worry to me than the thought of perhaps eventually ending up with COPD/Emphy....... fortunately and to my surprise, even 7 or 8 months after my lung issue they continue to improve month by month. I guess on top of whatever issue I had, whatever attacked my lungs, there was also smoking damage and my body still seems to be doing it's work rebuilding that organ. One of the more recent changes is that my chest wall no longer hurts. This was my biggest concern after my breathing returned to normal and since then my fear of impending meso has lessened.

As for mucus and plugs, I may not have described my situation very well. Apart from the occaisional chest cold, I produce very little mucus. You could probably say that in terms of mucus my lungs are/were too dry. I'm producing slightly more now as they are cleaning themselves up, but it is also looking much healthier too. It's gone from dark brown/green and thick globby and gluey, to clear, less thick but with odd dark spots inside it, kind of like a speckled egg. This I understand from google is not uncommon for those quitting smoking and can go on for up to a year or more though it should lessen over that time. After it became apparent that I did not have COPD at this time I decided I'd stick around for a bit anyways because I liked the people I'd met and I'm not one who can easily leave a story in the middle. I have learned so much from my friends here, that I feel prepared for any eventuality concerning my lungs should it come. Lol ......

Jim....glad you popped in..... Yes, I've seen these percussion vests. Not in person but relating to other lung diseases like CF. I can see how this could be a positive boon to one in your situation where you are prone to plugging but lack the wind and the diaphragm strength to blow it out. I hope it works well for you and saves you some trouble because we (the royal we, as well as the group we) really like having you around. Do you like others have said, feel like you are breathing through a straw? When my lungs were at there most challenged, it took effort to breathe and it was tiring. Is it like this all the time for you?

I too apologise for the long post here

I mentioned this on another thread but I thought it might be worth while to mention it again because we have been having a lot of new people.
The best thing I know to help bring up mucus is a flutter valve. I got one when I was in the hospital . My lungs are producing a lot of mucus because of my asthma right now. Especially in the morning I'm so plugged up that even the albuterol treatments do not help. The medicine does not get into the lungs because all the mucus is blocking the airway. So when I get up -if I have enough air left to do so-I use the flutter valve around 15 minutes cough up the mucus and then do the treatment. Sometimes I breath so much better after the flutter valve I don't even need the albuterol anymore.
I'm sending a link to one but there are several brands. This one is usually being used in the hospital by respiratory therapists.
http://justnebulizers.com/acapella-flutter-valve.html

Zig , I am very relieved that you have one worry less. We may not totally understand , in our younger years, just how important the care of our lungs are. So to speak, they "carry all the water from the well" with the help of the big pump, the heart. Well , I did see all of the Thomas the train DVDs' and red the books over and over with my grandson. LOL

Jim, you continually amaze me. You are the comeback kid. You have one angel on your side with your home health nurse. I wish you well each day.

big hugs,
Anna

I saw some of the pics of plugs that the link in Heike55's post leads to. Lol.... Some o them look like a very good cast of the lung has been taken by some experienced professional rather than something your lung made accidentally and haphazardly. All the different delicate little branches can be seen.....A very intricate reproduction of a small part of the lung. You could almost bring it in to your pulmo and say, "I want to save some money on the CT scan you wanted I decided to bring you in a cast of my lung instead."

I think the thing that surprises me most is the size of some of them. The one I coughed up after a chest cold some years back must have been from near the top and was as big as my thumb with the beginnings of a couple smaller branches...., and the one in the pics on google has a measuring tape beside it for reference. It's in metric but being Canadian and born well before we converted to it I'm used to the conversion and it is fully 4 inches by 3 inches including all the branches it has coming off of it. It's huge!!! Lol.